Turbo Shimmy with Celeste: Instruction Belly Dance Series
June 19, 2010 by admin
Filed under Belly Dance Veil
- Demonstration and Instruction of Strengthening Exercises
- Demonstration and Instruction on Shimmy Technique
- 4 Fun & Progressively More Challenging Shimmy Drills
- 6 Classic Stretches
- 2 Beautiful Performances by Celeste
Product Description
Every belly dancer wants shimmies that are effortless, strong, smooth, and go on forever! In this DVD Celeste will help you improve your shimmies by clarifying proper shimmy technique, demonstrating stretches and exercis… More >>
Turbo Shimmy with Celeste: Instruction Belly Dance Series
So I was wondering exactly how many stars are right for this DVD. They don’t let you give 3.5 stars, so I giving it only 3 to honor some of the great IAMED products on the market.
I already had IAMED’s Ultimate Combinations featuring Celeste and I knew what to expect for her. She didn’t look particularly attractive as a dancer or a teacher but she does have a lot of fresh moves.
When you pop the DVD in, you are greeted and introduced to Celeste – the dancer from the cover. She is a plump woman probably in her early forties with long blond hair, blue eyes and kind face who, rather than a world-reknown bellydancer looks like your favorite aunt from childhood who’d bake you cookies. She has this familiar feel about her which makes the whole video give you a “at home with your close female relative” feeling.
She then takes you through some strenght excercises which are good if you are out of shape or aim a low-impact workout. She then continues with the breakdown of some shimmies, explaining slowly and deliberately so students who aren’t proficient in them may learn the mechanics. You are introduced to the American shimmy (ie hip shimmy), Egyptian shimmy (knee shimmy), Choo Choo and 3/4 shimmy.
Three 10-minute shimmy sessions follow. There isn’t a good deal of layering going on but as I think this DVD is meant for the late beginner, this should provide a good challenge for the viewers. What I particularly enjoy is that Celeste explores some arm patterns and poses with weight shifts and in arabesque position. This is an excellent cardio excercise, the main reason I purchased this DVD apart from the opportunity of drilling.
If I must be fair, Celeste’s shimmies aren’t impressive. She can’t hold the candle to Leyla Jouvana who has her own two DVDs dedicated to shimmies. Aziza has a similar video with shimmy drills and her skills are far more advanced that Celeste’s. Of course, few dancers can entertain the hope they can match, to some extend, Sadie and her technique. However, she keeps a stable shimmy for many many many minutes to last which is always a challenge even to intermediate/advanced dancers.
What I got the most of the DVD is Celeste’s very gentle way of reminding us students that learn a great deal of great moves and arm patterns and we throw them away because many of us are minded a dance is at its best when we do nonstop insanely complicated layers and combinations. Simple but effective: add some poses to your dance, mix them with a well-executed, measured shimmy and you get an impressive dance, enjoyable to watch, enjoyable to perform.
There are some stretches included and two performances at the end. Celeste’s style reminds me very much of Rania – whose choreographies tend to be original but her dancing is quite stiff. It’s like IAMED had a workshop and invited one of the better students to perform in front of the camera in her teacher’s best costumes. No harm done. One I got over the fact Celeste isn’t Artemis Mourat or Jillina, it all fell to place.
This DVD actually costs $10 less than 95% of all IAMED has produced. So if you manage to find the video for $25 or used, it’s worth getting.
The Turbo Shimmy may appeal especially to:
- Fans of Rania
- Late beginners who want to train their shimmies
- Dancers who want to explore poses and arm patterns, rather than heavy layers.
- those who enjoy a familiar, friendly atmosphere for a learning experience.
On the other hand if you are already experienced, can keep a shimmy steady for 5-7 minutes without a problem, it may be best to spend the money on another product. If you are looking for a sharp, focused teacher, you may want to try Ava Fleming instead. As I mentioned above, Aziza also have a good DVD with shimmy drills – Ultimate Practice Companion. Jenna has great shimmy sections in her Heartbeat of Bellydance, Basics and Beyond and I believe Beyond Basics videos. They are great value for money and contain information other than the shimmies of course.
I gave the DVD 3 stars because I usually feel I get more from other IAMED products and they aren’t cheap. It sank easily back on the shelf in my room and every once in a while I dust it off but not use as often. I also think Celeste doesn’t have the vibe of a true bellydance star. If the DVD had cost $15-20, I would have probably given it another star as a better value option.
I don’t regret adding Celeste’s Turbo Shimmies to my collection – but after all, I already have over 50 items in it. So if you are like me and you just HAVE to have everything that hits the market, give it a try!
Rating: 3 / 5
I’m an advanced beginner/intermediate bellydance student, and I purchased this DVD because I couldn’t get my shimmies controlled and smooth, and I was having trouble getting a clear idea of how to do them by searching online or asking my teacher.
The Turbo Shimmy DVD is really useful for breaking down the basic Egyptian shimmy INCLUDING where you should try placing your weight and how it should feel. Celeste explains each movement from both forward and side views, which helped immensely. The best thing about this DVD, for me, was that it gives you lots of different ways to practice and strengthen your shimmy muscles. Being presented with all those options let me identify ones that helped me in particular.
If you already “get” the shimmy, this DVD probably isn’t for you. But if, like me, you’re having trouble just getting a shimmy that feels correct and want to build it into something that lasts more than a couple seconds, this DVD is a friendly and helpful way to get started. After one run-through my shimmies were already MUCH improved during class.
Rating: 4 / 5
i liked this video. Celeste seems very nice and comes across as a real person. She’s not too perky- she is rather calm through-out the video, which is nice. She is also a normal sized person- i would say she is a size 8/10- so she’s not fat, but she’s not rail thin like some you see. Also nice. You will find this helpfull if you are an advanced beginner and need to drill your shimmys or want more practice in corrdinating your arms while shimmying. this mainly drills the Egyptian shimmy(straight legs, using your knees), so if you need more of different styles or don’t like Egyptian shimmy, try something else.
it makes me wonder if there was supposed to be a 4th drill using the 3/4 shimmy and it got cut, because why review the technique, but not drill it? hmmm. bummer.
This video has great production values and Celeste is in an appropriate outfit. The music is fine and you can hear her when she talks.
In the first technique section she goes over how to do the different types of shimmies-
Egyptian- regular, with a wide stance, with weight changes, and in proflie, Pharonic style. And then one-legged for the Pharonic. (which i was taught as “Freezes” but is the same thing)
Piston Shimmy(or what she calls American shimmy)
Cho Cho Shimmy
3/4 Shimmy.
She breaks it down for you slowly so you can understand where the move is coming from, but it’s not so much that you get bored. i just watched this once because i allready knew how to do all of the shimmys, but it’s allways good to review and see how other people teach them.
Then the actual drills- there are 3 and run about 10min each. They are all mostly Egyptian or variations of Egyptian, with a little American thrown in here and there to break it up. The only time you use the Cho Cho is the very end of the 3rd drill, and you never use the 3/4 at all, which made me sad because i need to drill it the most.
What i did like are Celestes’ arms. All of the drills are straight shimmy, no steps or torso movement, so you are planted in one spot the whole time, hopping every once in a while into Pharonic pose. To keep from getting REALLY bored, she keeps her arms moving the whole time. She does different poses and basic arm moves continously. She didn’t cue the arms, and i guess you could do your own thing instead if you don’t like what she is doing. I really thought this was great because i want to get more coordination between my shimmy and other moves. This helped me to get my booty going and then forget it and get the rest of me moving, too!
Plus:
Reviews and Drills Egyptian Shimmy
Incorporates various arm movements with your shimmy
Minus:
Does not drill 3/4 shimmy, and only VERY breifly for the other styles
Does not drill traveling steps
overall, a very usefull video- 4 1/2 stars!
Rating: 4 / 5
I tried out this exercise video. I thought it was one of the worst I’ve ever tried, probably even worse than Carmen Electra. I was wondering if this was copied from some local-access cable show, as it seems very slapdash, like nobody told Celeste what she was supposed to do and say.
She begins with a lengthy “strength training” explanation though I was under the impression this was to be a cardio workout (hence the “turbo” element). It was very difficult to follow along as slow as she was going and she does not seem like a professional fitness instructor. She is weirdly awkward in delivering her lines, or maybe she can’t read a teleprompter very well. Regardless, my overall impression was that they didn’t bother trying to do more than one take, so however it came out is how they left it. Also, although I could relate to Celeste because her body is more similar to mine than most fitness instructors’, her uncomfortable smile and hesitant way of giving instructions totally turned me off (she even hesitates and switches movements around with her arms, like she starts to do one thing and changes her mind mid-way).
Even though (minus the strength training portions) this does eventually get pretty sweaty, and I might appreciate the aerobic factor, the leg movements are so similar from section to section, and so monotonous, that you really don’t need Celeste there at all. You could just shake your legs while watching TV and never need Celeste to “instruct”.
Rating: 1 / 5
This DVD is for a dancer that sees beyond appearances. One can never expect too much out of anything. This is a decent DVD, the teacher’s intentions were good. This is something you could use to practice your shimmies. Celeste is a good teacher, the movements are clear and her hand movements are beautiful. Hey! One can learn a lot even from videos that are not that great, but everybody has different tastes. When it comes to Bellydance we have to be realistic, each individual has different needs and likes or dislikes. I don’t want to judge this DVD too harshly. As I mentioned again it is an ok DVD for the one who is willing to practice and perfect her shimmies. Good for beginners with lots of repetitions.
Rating: 4 / 5